I'm In Love With Who I Wish You Were
by theywillneverknow
Summary: One-shot Pepperony in which Pepper reflects upon the man Mr Stark was, the superhero Ironman is and the lover that Tony could become.


**Title**: Wish You Were Here

**Author**: firstflier  
**Theme**: 100. Stark  
**Rating**: PG-13

**Length**: 757 words

**Summary**: 'I'm still in love with who I wish you were. And I wish you were here.' – Kate Voegele

**Author's Note**: Not entirely sure where this one went or how it started but there you go. Short and sweet.

Two days into the job and Pepper Potts knew three things about Tony Stark.

He took his coffee black, three sugars.

He did not want to be disturbed during what was known as 'hang over' time which was normally the period between 9 am – 2pm.

He was completely oblivious to the effect he had on her and her traitorous heart.

These three facts did not change for the next 5 years.

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Pepper grew to know the 'changed' Tony just as well as 'asshole' Tony, if not better. He was the man that Pepper had always known he could be, and often was, when the mood suited him. He was generous, selfless, caring and had a guilt complex a mile wide.

He liked to call himself a superhero.

She still liked to call him an asshole that gave her the occasional stomach ulcer or migraine. In some ways she preferred the old Tony because, at least with him, the worst trouble he was going to get into was a spot of PR bother that would need to be smoothed over with a press conference. Now, she was constantly fretting about Ironman being shot down by the airforce, being killed by some supercharged villain out for revenge or just generally crashing into billboards.

Still, he had evolved into a man that she had previously only had glimpses of when he let his persona down because, despite what he said about Ironman being his alter ego, he had a secret identity long before the metal suit came along.

Sometimes she couldn't keep up.

Talented PA as she was, she was not trained to work with schizophrenics.

Trying to establish whether she was talking to Ironman, Mr Stark or Tony was a skill that she needed to perfect if she didn't want to go stark raving mad. (When she mentioned her deteriorating mental state to Tony he had muttered some cheap pun about the word 'stark' and she had stalked from the workshop with a dignified huff). More and more Pepper found herself conversing with Ironman (both in the suit and out of it) and she realised one day that she missed just plain Tony.

She missed getting him pizza and picking up his dry cleaning and knowing he would still be at the mansion (probably hung over) when she returned to work on Monday morning. She liked knowing the ins and outs of his schedule and she liked knowing exactly what she was meant to be doing at any given moment. She didn't like the impromptu missions, the random flights out 'just because' and she found she dreaded going down into the workshop to see the latest upgrades designed into the suit.

The suit that had saved his life was now ruining hers.

In a rare moment of honesty (possibly something to do with the martini she had drunk earlier in the evening) Pepper admitted that she missed Tony.

"What?" The Stark in question glanced up at her from his position in the living room on the sofa. He was wearing his trademark smirk and had one eyebrow cocked in an expression of amused confusion. "I've been here all week, Pep."

"_Ironman's _been here all week."

There was a pause.

"You're not really giving me an opening to say it, are you?" Tony grinned at her, white teeth gleaming in a perfectly straight row. The twinkle in his eyes should have warned her that what he was about to say was utterly ridiculous. "I _am _Ironman."

His boyish smile cracked at her lack of amusement. Her blue eyes watched him steadily with patience that she had learnt in her first few years working in Stark Industries. She cocked her head and he shifted somewhat awkwardly under her intense gaze, his shoulders rolling uncomfortably.

"Yes, I suppose you are at that."

He frowned and glanced back down at his laptop thinking the bizarre conversation over.

"So, while you're off being Ironman, who's here being Tony?"

The nearness of her voice made him start and he looked up at her, his jaw going slack, to see her picking up her coat from the sofa and folding it over her arm. His brain raced to come up with an appropriate response but she beat him to it.

"Will that be all, Mr Stark?"

The response was instant and automatic despite his mind reeling.

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

And then she was gone, out of the house and into her car, before he could formulate any sort of coherent thought.

_~Fin._


End file.
